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OPINION

Can Flaggs be elected as a Republican to a statewide office?

Retired Rep. Robert Clark, who was the first black lawmaker elected since Reconstruction, and his son, Rep. Bryant Clark, who took his place in the Mississippi Legislature discusses the state of African-American politics.

I remember after I wrote a story about how an African American hadn’t been elected to a statewide office in Mississippi since Reconstruction, Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs called and left a message thanking me for the story.

My story had mentioned that in a couple Southern states, African Americans had been elected to statewide offices as conservative Republicans.

Flaggs, who served in the Mississippi Legislature from 1988 until 2013, has always run as a Democrat, but he has been known not to be afraid of crossing political party lines to vote on some issues. Flaggs is in his second term as Vicksburg's mayor.

I didn’t take Flaggs’ comments in the voicemail serious that he might run as a Republican for a statewide office in 2019.

Now Flaggs, in an Associated Press story by Emily Wagster Pettus, has floated the idea of running as a Republican for lieutenant governor in 2019.

A Flaggs’ candidacy as a Republican would be interesting, but there would be a lot of unanswered questions, such as:

Would Flaggs lose his Democratic base if he ran as a Republican?

Would Republicans support an African American candidate in a Republican primary over a more established Republican candidate?

Flaggs is an adept politician, respected on both sides of the political spectrum. He has also received mostly high marks as Vicksburg’s mayor.

Political observers have said they believe an African American will be elected to a statewide office in Mississippi, but it will depend on the candidate. They believe it will require a candidate with charisma who appeals to both black voters and white voters.

Could Flaggs be such a candidate? It’s difficult to say. It’s not known if Flaggs appeal with voters will extend beyond his home territory of Vicksburg and Warren County.

Mississippi’s African-American population was 37.7 percent, according to the last Census report. Flaggs would have to depend on significant support from white voters to have any chance of winning a Republican primary because traditional Democratic voters aren't likely to cross party lines to vote for him in a primary election.

As I reported in my African-American political story months ago, from passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act to 2000, African-American political power was on the upswing with white candidates for statewide office courting black voters, knowing black voters could influence the outcome of an election.

In 2011, then-Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree, considered a viable candidate ran for governor as a Democrat against Republican Phil Bryant. Dupree received about 39 percent of the votes in his losing effort.

In Tuesday’s general election, across the country, an African American was elected lieutenant governor in Virginia, which has a 70 percent white population. However, Virginia has been a progressive political state, electing Douglas Wilder in 1989 as its first African-American governor and first African-American governor in U.S. history in modern times. Wilder left office in 1994.

Politics in Mississippi can be interesting. And 2019 could be a really interesting political year with statewide races.

Not sure if Flaggs will run for statewide office. It would take a lot of dominoes to fall into place for him to have a shot at winning, but you have to love politics in Mississippi.